Porter protecting the investment with tweak rather than wholesale approach

“Enough is enough….the Carter trade for Lowerie is looking pretty bad…When will we pull the plug on this guy.” –dennisd

“…how long to we keep running them out there?” –kevink.

The Astros are 20 games into a 162-game schedule. Already, there’s a revolving door between Oklahoma City and Houston, not to mention an open door to the doctor’s office. Jeff Luhnow is surprised, shocked even. Elias is quoting stats that occur only decades at a time.

So, is it any wonder that fans are clamoring for changes to a team with the third worst record in baseball? Wait, you mean there are teams with worse records than the Astros? Yep.

But credit Bo Porter. He’s tweaking rather than wholesaling. He’s experimenting instead of panicking. And the first-year manager is showing the confidence in younger players that many of the same fans called for but didn’t get from predecessors Brad Mills and Cecil Cooper.

While fans and perhaps others rail on Porter to keep Chris Carter and Justin Maxwell (among others) on the bench, Porter keeps writing their names on the lineup card. Bo recognizes the Astros have made an investment in players — be it a smaller investment than most clubs — and he’s going to get his money’s worth.

Is this a defense of Porter? Not at all, though he is definitely committed to the long haul.

Question: Would you rather have Carter around for three years — a la Brett Wallace — going up and down, back and forth, in and out of the lineup? Or would you rather give him all his bats in the same part of the same season, find out what you got and make a reasoned decision later this year? Do you want another Chris Burke or J.R. Towles? Or Brett Wallace?

Frankly, Carter has only 83 at bats after Tuesday’s game. He’s on pace for 32 HRs and 81 RBI. Ridiculous, you say? Can’t possibly maintain that pace? Too small a sample?

Maybe, perhaps and absolutely. Same goes for that .216 average and .290 OBP.

Credit Porter for sticking to his guns. And his players. And his plan. Maxwell has started all 20 games in CF. Carter has started 18 games, most in the cleanup spot. Porter keeps writing in Jason Castro’s name in the three spot (11 times).

Do the results look look bad? Is a trend developing? Did Luhnow miss it? Maybe, but less than 100 ABs in a lost season doesn’t deserve a grade. It’s merely an incomplete. Talk to me at 150-200 ABs.

The problem isn’t Carter or Maxwell or any other single player. It’s the fact that no one is hitting. You can possibly hide one or two players in the lineup, but when Jose Altuve is the only real, consistent threat at the plate, well…put it like this, you can’t hide eight hitters in a nine-man lineup.

The game is won with pitching and defense, so keep running Matt Dominguez and Carlos Pena to the corner infield spots. Keep nursing Erik Bedard until you can get 100 pitches and maybe six innings.